I am looking to buy a Dell PC to run Production Premium. I will be editing HD DSLR footage of my wedding using CS6. I want a system that will handle this media but do not want to go overboard highend. Here is what I found so far.

As equipped, you are nowhere close. 12GB total RAM is not enough for CS6. Heck, even 16GB is not quite enough for a desktop running CS6, especially if most of your video work involves downsizing HD to SD for DVD. The system needs all of 32GB of RAM just for it to perform anywhere close to fast.

Second, none of the Radeon cards support GPU-accelerated Mercury Playback at all in Windows. You could "hack" a text file to enable CUDA GPU acceleration in MPE for the GT 640 - but why would you want to with this i7-3770/GT 640 combo? The GT 640 is actually slower with GPU acceleration than in software-only mode because it is such a weakling GPU: Tests proved that the retail DDR3 version of the GT 640 is slower than even a GTS 450, let alone a GTX 550 Ti. And even with GDDR5 memory, that GT 640 is no faster than a GTS 450.

Third, as equipped that system has only one single hard drive. If you are also going to use the exact same hard drive for not only the OS and programs, but also for media, projects, previews, cache and exports, that will slow down the system performance significantly - sometimes to the point where overall performance is as slow as or slower than systems equipped with CPUs that are three generations old. This is because one SATA channel only allows data transfers in one direction at a time (due to its half-duplex nature), which means that a block of transfers in one direction must be completed before any transfers can commence in the opposite direction. However, editing and encoding require simultaneous bidirectional transfers, something that a single SATA connection does not allow at all. As such, you will need at least two more SATA hard drives (three or four more drives would be even better).

I want a system that will handle this media but do not want to go overboard highend.

This system is going the other direction, overboard lowend.

If you want to follow Randall's suggestions, all of which are very valid, think outside the box and especially outside Dell boxes, unless you want to go overboard on the price. Dell steals you blind with everything you add or change, delivers crippled BIOS, does not allow overclocking and comes with a Dell PSU, that has non-standard dimensions.

I had feeling this is the response I was going to get. I am not opposed to building a PC. It would be my first go at it, but I would enjoy it. Is there any pre-built PC (workstations) that would get the job done, or building the best bet? I guess I better start getting a parts list together.

Is there any pre-built PC (workstations) that would get the job done, or building the best bet?

The problem with the big name brands, Dell, Boxx, HP, Alienware is that they don't have any workstation ready to order for video editing. You need to configure yourself and if you do it with one of the big names, they all steal you blind.

So the consequence is that you have to come up with a shortlist of components you need, that really is the first step, and then compare how much it is going to cost you if you build yourself and what it would cost you at a place like ADK to have those components installed in a ready to run system. Give Eric at ADK a call for some ideas.

What kind of problems/limitations do you think I might possibly run into with this system running PPCS6 with HD DSLR footage? What you say would/should be the next upgrade, video card or another drive? I could upgrade to GTX 560 for another $148.00

Plus DDR5 instead of DDR3. The 560 and especially the Ti version are much faster than the 630. I second Bob.

I agree there. In fact, as I have noted a couple of times, the GT 630 is actually a renamed GT 440. And even the DDR5 version of the GT 440 is slower than the retail GT 640 (which itself is slower than even a GTS 450, let alone a GTX 550 Ti).

Ok, I found a local company in PIttsburgh that does custom builds and it will avoid me paying any shipping. They seem to favor AMD products heavily, and are trying to steer me towards an AMD Fx CPU and an AMD GPU. I refuse to do the AMD GPU, and I am set on the GTX 560 (maybe GTX 550 ti ). From what I have read about AMD CPU's they are no longer competive with Intel. Should I stick with Intel i7 3770k, or is there a AMD FX that is compareable at a more reasonable price? Also, between the two quotes (other listed above) is there anything else between the two that sticks out? Thanks

Ok, I found a local company in PIttsburgh that does custom builds and it will avoid me paying any shipping. They seem to favor AMD products heavily, and are trying to steer me towards an AMD Fx CPU and an AMD GPU.

A company that does not know sh*t about video editing and are trying to steer you towards AMD is only looking at a custom build that gives them the biggest margin, not what serves you best for your purposes. Well, you get what you pay for, but saving on transport cost will be more than compensated by the lousy service they can offer, if at all. At ADK you know you get the best system for your purposes and great service from people who know video editing, have extensive experience with Adobe software, so they really know what they are talking about.

Personally I would not trust that local company to do any decent job. As a test ask them how they will setup your video. I bet they don't even know that you have to disable the Intel graphics in the Bios for proper operation of PR.

Also you have a terrible mismatch with the basic system and the graphics card. With that CPU and 16 GB of RAM that 192 CUDA core GTX 550 Ti is useless With my PPBM5 testing with an i7-2600K at 4.4 GHz ,16 GB RAM, system it took 146 seconds to perform the our MPEG2-DVD encoding test with the GPU and not using the GPU (CPU only) it took 111 seconds. You need at least the GTX 560 Ti or better.to balance performance.

Bill - could you elaborate more on what you mean about a mismatch. From your example it sounds like your saying the CPU is powerful enought (or too powerful) that I would not benefit from the GTX 550 ti? If that's the case should I look at i5 - ****k. I got a reply on another forum that put a parts list together with i5-3570k, and said to just use the integrated HD 4000 graphics. The full list is below.

I would not recommend such a CPU downgrade because the i5 that you listed lacks Hyperthreading, and is thus limited to four threads maximum. And because Premiere performs better with more CPU threads, the downgrade from an i7-3770K to an i5-3570K would have slowed down everything by a factor of around 20 percent although the MPEG-2 DVD encoding performance with GPU acceleration enabled would not have suffered as much. The downgrade to an i5 would have made the GTX 550 Ti more balanced with the CPU but everything else would have been around 20 percent slower. That's significant, in my view.

I just had a complete computer system built in November 2011 by ADK for me. Many people suggested them to me from these forums and other forums. I spoke with Eric at ADK a few times for his advice on what I would need in a new system for the type of video work i do ..After he heard of what I did he recommended less cost hardware stating if I got what I wanted it would be way over kill at a large increase in cost.The system I purchased from them is simply excellent.Quiet , yet powerful. I am editing , with effects, avchd footage with absolutely no problems.I purchased Adobe Production suite at an excellent price ..ADK installed all the software and optimized all programs and settings .A Source and Render array of 2 -1tb each hard drives and a 1tb system drive ..all professionaly set up.I highly recommend anyone getting a new system to talk with Eric at ADK and purchase a system from them.They know NLE system builds in every aspect.You can't go wrong.Specify what work you want to do with your system and they will build it .

The previous paragraph was written a few months ago ...what follows is a brief update.After lots of work ..and play on this computer system I can state with much sincerity that ADK is the absolute best company in making video - photo editing computer systems.

Eric is simply the best and all those that made my wonderful machine are hereby thanked . Incredibly quiet, powerful and fast

Between ADK and Harm Millard you can't find more knownledgable and helpful people.